Spain lunar sample displays

The Spain lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of tiny fragments of moon specimens brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions. These plaques were given to the people of Spain by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

The Spain Apollo 11 lunar sample display commemorative plaque consists of four rice-size specimens of lunar rock that were collected by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 and a small flag. The 4 specimens weigh about 0.05 grams in total. They are encased in a clear plastic ball the size of a coin that is mounted to a wooden board approximately one foot square on a small podium pedestal display. The plaque display also has mounted on it a small Spanish flag that had been taken to the moon and back on Apollo 11. The plaque display was given to the people of Spain as a gift by United States President Richard Nixon. Similar lunar sample displays were also distributed to all the states of the United States and all the countries of the world.

The Spain Apollo 17 lunar sample display commemorative plaque measures 10x14 inches and consists of one lunar sample that was cut from lunar basalt 70017. This basalt was collected by Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt on the moon in 1972. Once lunar basalt 70017 was brought back to earth from the moon, the basalt moon rock was cut up into small fragments of approximately 1 gram. The specimen was encased in a plastic ball and mounted on the wooden plaque along with the Spanish flag which had been taken to the moon and back by the crew of Apollo 17. The plaques were then distributed in 1973 by President Richard Nixon to different countries of the world and the States of the United States as a goodwill gesture.

There is evidence that the Spanish administration of the 1970s kept the Apollo 11 commemorative plaque display and the lunar samples associated with them as the personal belongings of General Francisco Franco. After Franco's death in 1975 the Apollo 11 "moon rocks" from his estate were offered to a buyer in Switzerland. Franco's family denies any knowledge of this.

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